oakeydoak1 Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Hi All I have a BC bitch who is very fussy with food. She survives on the smell of food and is very very active. I have tried everything i can think of to get her to eat but to no avail. She is now 5 weeks pregnant and I was hoping she would have an increased appetite but so far no change. She survives on one chicken carcass a day and she will only eat the whole thing if she is really starving. I have tried: Chicken mince raw, chicken mince cooked, chicken mince with rice and with stock. Cooked sausages, raw sausages, cooked steak, raw steak, tinned food, dry food. She will eat a fresh leg of lamb when we have one available but over a couple of days. I am just getting worried that she will not be consuming enough to keep herself and her puppies healthy. Is there anything I can give her to help boost her appetite or supplement her to give her the extra she needs for hte puppies. I am all out of ideas so any advice would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merrirose Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Hi All I have a BC bitch who is very fussy with food. She survives on the smell of food and is very very active. I have tried everything i can think of to get her to eat but to no avail. She is now 5 weeks pregnant and I was hoping she would have an increased appetite but so far no change. She survives on one chicken carcass a day and she will only eat the whole thing if she is really starving. I have tried: Chicken mince raw, chicken mince cooked, chicken mince with rice and with stock. Cooked sausages, raw sausages, cooked steak, raw steak, tinned food, dry food. She will eat a fresh leg of lamb when we have one available but over a couple of days. I am just getting worried that she will not be consuming enough to keep herself and her puppies healthy. Is there anything I can give her to help boost her appetite or supplement her to give her the extra she needs for hte puppies. I am all out of ideas so any advice would be appreciated. Have you tried tinned cat food or sardines? You could maybe use Nutrigel while your working out her food issues? Im sure someone with more experience will have better ideas. Good luck! Mine went off her food for about 10 days at 3 weeks gestation. She would only eat chicken necks as they are easy and Id make sure no-one would disturb our feeding routine which was me hand feeding her chicken necks one after the other until she stopped, wait 5 minutes and then offer more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) I don't increase the amount of food my bitches get until they are 6 weeks in pup anyway, so at this stage I wouldn't be concerned. Provide her with FRESH tempting food that you know is similar to what she is used to and don't fuss if she refuses to eat as much as you think she should Is she one of those who is "too busy" to eat? If so you may have success with confining her for an hour or so with her food. Above all - don't make a big fuss and stress about it! Edited May 8, 2011 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordogs Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 What was her appetite like before she was mated? It sound like she has always been like this, am I correct? Is she getting any extra vitamins, yoghurt, cottage cheese, sardines, even try a good quality tin puppy food, goat milk, I have been known to even give TIN CAT FOOD under such circumstances. I have a female that also refused to eat everything that she would normally have scoffed when she was pregnant last time, she was a nightmare, I was so worried but she survived, delivered 8 healthy puppies and still refused almost everything that I offered for another few days. Good Luck with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakeydoak1 Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 Yes she has always been like this, not just since she was mated. She wont eat yoghurt, tinned food, sardines etc. She will occasionally eat tinned cat food but pretty much leaves it there if you fed it to her everyday for a week, she may eat it twice. I have tried confining her but it doesnt make a difference, I think she gets more stressed about being confined! I have always been of the opinion she will eat if she is hungry, was just a little more concerned because she is pregnant and thought I would get some other opinions. Thanks for your advice! I will stop worrying about it for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommygirl Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Yes she has always been like this, not just since she was mated. She wont eat yoghurt, tinned food, sardines etc. She will occasionally eat tinned cat food but pretty much leaves it there if you fed it to her everyday for a week, she may eat it twice. I have tried confining her but it doesnt make a difference, I think she gets more stressed about being confined! I have always been of the opinion she will eat if she is hungry, was just a little more concerned because she is pregnant and thought I would get some other opinions. Thanks for your advice! I will stop worrying about it for now. My girl was fussy through-out her pregnancy last year. Wouldnt touch basically anything, but one thing she would eat was scrambled eggs. Once I figured out she would eat that, I would mix in some cheese to 'fatten' it up a bit. She was the same post-whelp would only eat her scrambled eggs and would only eat a small amount of kibble if there was tinned puppy food smoshed through it. After the first week was down she was still a bit fussy but getting back to normal. Now shes a guts again . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldielover Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 To help put your mind at ease, i had a very similar girl. She was a very small and fussy eater at the best of times and during pregnancy just got worse LOL. I was in a bit of a panic as it was my first litter. The only thing she would eat is chicken necks. Later in the pregnancy i tried all different brands of canned food and she actually ate Optimum - not really my choice for a food but hey, it was better than nothing! She pretty much went through the entire pregnancy on chicken necks and Optimum and went on to produce 7 healthy babies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Its a worry but she will probably be fine. Try some tinned dog food crap. Despite the fact its not the best most dogs will eat it. Not sure of the magic ingredient. I had a fussy pregnant one & she loved My Dog cans & turned down fresh topside steak for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakeydoak1 Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Thanks all. Will stop worrying and let nature take its course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havasneeze Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Thanks all. Will stop worrying and let nature take its course. Yes my bitch is the same, she will not eat very much when she is in whelp but she loves ice cream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 (edited) Yes she has always been like this, not just since she was mated. She wont eat yoghurt, tinned food, sardines etc. She will occasionally eat tinned cat food but pretty much leaves it there if you fed it to her everyday for a week, she may eat it twice. I have tried confining her but it doesnt make a difference, I think she gets more stressed about being confined! I have always been of the opinion she will eat if she is hungry, was just a little more concerned because she is pregnant and thought I would get some other opinions. Thanks for your advice! I will stop worrying about it for now. Hopefully she will get hungry when feeding puppies but I have known one BC bitch that didn't. Always an extremely fussy eater, she was worse after whelping. The litter had to be weaned onto Di-vetelact once they were standing at about 12 days because she wouldn't eat enough to produce milk. Nutrigel constantly made her produce just enough milk for the first week or so but not after that. She produced a lovely litter so the breeder tried again and this time was prepared to force feed her. She force fed for the first week and the bitch realised that she had no choice so eventually scoffed the food before it was forced down her neck. She went on to have a third litter and by then worked out that she had to eat what was given to her. Edited May 13, 2011 by dancinbcs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toy dog Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 one of my bitches did this too usually when this happens and they stop eating for whatever reason, i give them vitamin B or vegiemite which makes the dog hungry. it also works on myself if i take a tablet in the morning. usually ravenous by mid morning. i usually crush the tablet up into powder and sprinkle on something that she really likes, has anyone suggested maybe roasting some nice chicken breast with garlic and lemon juice and a pinch of salt rub it on her lips to make her see its nice to taste then put the bowl down and see whether she'll go for it. i always say with dogs they sort of know if they don't like whats put down for them, get to know that something else will be coming along to replace it. :D some dogs are very cunning that way. maybe your dog might have this idea too??? i noticed over many years just like humans dogs can get morning sickness have a bad pregnancy or a good pregnancy, maybe this could be what the poor girl is suffering from too. hope she eats for you. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakeydoak1 Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 Just thought I would let you all know that she has decided she likes Iams Kitten dry food and tinned RED salmon (doesnt like the pink one). At least I can get her to eat something!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Just thought I would let you all know that she has decided she likes Iams Kitten dry food and tinned RED salmon (doesnt like the pink one). At least I can get her to eat something!!! At least it is food. Expensive but food. Try Aldi for the salmon at a better price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toy dog Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 (edited) Just thought I would let you all know that she has decided she likes Iams Kitten dry food and tinned RED salmon (doesnt like the pink one). At least I can get her to eat something!!! At least it is food. Expensive but food. Try Aldi for the salmon at a better price. has anyone noticed the tinned salmon and tuna is all from either thailand or malaysia no australian tuna or salmon anymore thats when i stopped buying it actually for me and the dogs Edited May 18, 2011 by toy dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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